Actually its inconsistent. Many times with the car running and in park, I jump out to access the rear hatch. Sometimes it will open and sometimes it will not. When it doesn't open, I have to turn off the car and then the hatch opens. Any idea why this happens? Very inconvenient to have to turn off the car.
Could have something to do with the doors being locked. Try powering up...... 1) lock the doors......open driver door & attempt to open hatch. 2) unlock the doors.......open driver door & attempt to open hatch. Did the hatch open with #1......#2......both.......neither?
Yep. SMS and/or FOB button will not work with the car running. The lock/unlock switch on the driver's door does, though...
I am not sure about the hatch opening while the car is running, but it will not unlock unless you use the driver-side unlock button. The inconsistency may be that the hatch is or is not locked when you put the car into Park.
It's not that the hatch won't open when the car is running, it's that the SKS and Fob are disabled when the car is running, which means you can't unlock the hatch using either. As stated above, the unlock button on the inside of the driver's door will work. Tom
I think this is because your spedo or dash lights are out, no lights on dash. I would have to turn the car off to get the hatch open. When I unhooked the 12volt and got the dash lights and spedo back on the hatch would open again.
I checked and mine will not open with the car running. My first thought was that's a good design. Toyota thinks of everything.
As mentioned upthread, if you want to open it with the car running, just touch the unlock button on the driver's door armrest controls. Then you can go open the hatch. The things you can't do are just open the hatch by unlocking with the fob button, or (smartkey version) by walking up to it with the fob in your pocket and grabbing the handle. Those only work when the car isn't on.
I do not know why you would respond to a 12 year old thread, but for YOUR car it sounds as if you have a failing capacitor in the Combination Meter. That prevents the CM ecu from turning on, which causes problems such as no gauges or dash warning lights, tailgate release inop, etc. There's a stickied thread about DIY repair (towards the top of the Gen2 "Care, Maintenance" thread), or you can remove the CM to have someone else fix it. TexasHybridBatteries.com has been recommended - they can repair your CM, or sell you an exchange unit that's programmed with your odometer value. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
